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33 LS1/T56 Build

44K views 207 replies 32 participants last post by  Paul L 
#1 · (Edited)
*Update* Starting bodywork. Need advice, please help!. See post #155.

Hello everyone! Long time lurker on the forum, finally have started my own build. The car is a Factory Five 33 Hot Rod kit which will be powered by a GM LS1,T56 transmission, and Ford 8.8 three link rear end. Here is a video describing the details of the project and I will be vlogging the entire build of the car. Please subscribe to the Youtube channel to see the build progress. There is also pictures of the build on my Instagram @dizzymarcus. I will also be posting the new videos here. Let me know what you think, thanks!


 
#156 · (Edited)
Your first pic shows a depression at the parting line that looks black, indicating original gel coat in the depression. That has to go, but you don't have to use a large sanding block and sand down a big area. Try folding up some 60-80 grit paper to create a narrow edge and only sand into the depression. You can expose pinholes anywhere you've exposed the fiberglass, so blow out the seams with an air hose to be sure that dust isn't trapped in the pinholes. There is no point in sanding deeply and applying reinforced filler. Reinforced filler is intended for applications deeper than 1/8". All that's needed is ordinary filler. I really like Eastwood's stainless steel applicators so I can really press the filler in hard on the first swipes, to push into any pinholes.

I've never used guide coat during the sanding of body filler, only after some primer has been applied. The polyester filler is the key to avoiding any read-through of the seams. Note that fiberglass and gel coat are both hard and sand slow, while filler is soft and sands easily. Don't keep sanding long after touching the surrounding fiberglass, or you'll sand the filler too low.

I like using epoxy primer after the polyester. It can be applied as a sealer, an hour before the final urethane, or much earlier and sanded just before final coats. It take epoxy about 3 days to cure enough for dry sanding.

The only issue I have with flat or satin black (or clear) is that it's delicate. Once you spray it, you're done. If you get a scratch, there's no good way to fix it. If you rub on the paint very much, with anything, it will start to shine a little.

I painted my entire headliner, dash and inner door panels, not covered with upholstery in flat black. It's worked out OK so far. I painted the interior with a deliberately grainy texture than resembles leather. I didn't thin the paint and used both a lower pressure and larger spraying distance to create this effect.

With regard to the AC service fittings, they don't have to be placed at the compressor. Mine are both at the firewall. I mounted my drier to the firewall and put the service fitting there. My low pressure fitting is also at the firewall. On my car, one was too close to the exhaust manifold and the other was too close to the frame, at the compressor. I used braided stainless hoses, except under the dash.
 
#159 ·
Your first pic shows a depression at the parting line that looks black, indicating original gel coat in the depression. That has to go, but you don't have to use a large sanding block and sand down a big area. Try folding up some 60-80 grit paper to create a narrow edge and only sand into the depression....
After sanding down the parting lines what grits of sandpaper are you using to sand the filler and gelcoat to get ready for the polyester primer?
 
#157 ·
Thanks for the reply Dave! So ill have to sand down the parting lines more to get rid of the gelcoat in the parting line but I can then apply filler directly over the exposed fibreglass and the scuffed up gel coat around the parting line, correct?
Initially before doing any research I though doing a flat colour would be easier than a gloss but have since found out it is actually more difficult for the reasons you stated!
 
#160 ·
It's common to use 80 grit to scuff up large areas of the gel coat. I may go coarser in areas where I know that I need to use filler. Just be sure to scuff all of the gel coat in the area that you're working first, because you don't want filler spread out over any slick gel coat.

When working filler, there is no single process that's right or wrong. Some people slop it on heavy and use 40 grit or a body file for the initial sanding. I try to apply filler a little more sparingly and use 60 grit to start, then on to 80 and 120. If you don't get enough filler on the first time, lightly rough the area with 80 grit before applying more. Never apply more filler over unsanded filler.

The instructions for polyester primer say you can go down to 220 grit before priming.
 
#161 ·
The key when working with Gelcoat is to make ssure that you dont have any shine left. If you do there may still be some mold release agents still on the surface and even though it may stick now it will release later which would suck. I agree that breaking the surface with 60-80 grit paper is the right thing to do. Also bondo or fillers will adhere "well" to Gelcoat however if you really want to do a real good job grind out with a Dremmel the cavity area to get the Gelcoat shine out and apply Gelcoat to that area. One note however, if the depth of the groove is greater than an 1/8" then you should fill the area with a mixture of resin and fiberglass fiber. You can tear off strands from some fiberglass mat, mix it with resin and fill the area, messy but once you do it you will find the trick. Let set and harden, smooth and grind then apply the gelcoat to that area. Some may say use bondo or equivalent (as long as it has very good elastic properties) at that point and that's fine. key is to make sure that any filling of crevices are as strong or stronger than the original laminate.
 
#162 ·
I started sanding down the seams on the body. These are both on the line on the body in front of the drivers door. part of it seemed to sand down good with no gelcoat in the seam. The other part(circle in red) you can see pinholes with gelcoat below fibreglass. Am I supposed to keep sanding through?


 
#163 · (Edited)
Use a dremel tool with a small ball shaped burr bit to rough up each hole, clear to the bottom. After that, just fill with body filler or glazing putty, pressing firmly to fill all of the holes.

The filler does not require great strength, since the full thickness fiberglass layup should be below the repair. If there is a question about strength, it should be fixed with fiberglass applied to the back side. You can't get glass fibers into small holes.

Also, there is never a need to apply gel coat to make a repair to a car body. That's only needed on boats with gel coat finish.
 
#166 ·
Unfortunately I haven't been working on the car this weekend :(
I have been revamping my 5hp 60gallon Sanborn air compressor. Im adding an aftercoooler, water traps, filters and regulators to my system. getting it ready to spray paint/primer. Here is a question for anyone who has painted their car. How much primer/paint will I need to buy? Obviously the primer will depend how many times I apply and block sand but what would be a good starting point? Same question for the paint, I'm leaning towards a single stage satin black at the moment. Here is the video of the air compressor if anyone happens to be interested in that:
 
#167 ·
S13 - I'm not the best person to advice on paint, as I made a bit of a mess of my own car. :rolleyes:

However, I did learn two lessons the hard way:

- There are no short cuts to preparing the surface for paint and the more effort you put in, the better it will look.

- If there is any doubt about how much paint you will need then over order a single batch.

I needed to get a little more BRG and the second batch was a slightly different shade to the first.
Which meant I then had to order a larger third batch to get the same shade all over. :cursing:

Finally, unless you want to win prizes at shows, don't lose sleep if you can't achieve perfection.

I know where all the faults in my paintwork are, but everyone else just sees a 'cool' car. :cool:

Good luck, Paul. :)
 
#175 ·
Apologies for the slight thread hi-jack…


Only if you mean a classic mini cooper, not the current ones. ;)

The garage attached to my 1930s house was approx. 7 feet wide x 14 feet long.



Which was ideal for motorcycle, but not much good for a car unless it was something like this.



Cheers, Paul. :)
 
#178 ·
Just chiming in as a Canadian. Your garage is 98 sq ft. My garden shed is 120 sq ft. Only problem is there is over 2 ft of snow in my back yard and I haven't been in my shed since early December. Could be June before it ALL MELTS. We have no choice here, we have to work inside.

That being said, we rarely have tornadoes, and never have hurricanes.:smile2:
 
#180 ·
I have seen many previous builders section the chin (nosecone) because it was too wide to fit around the grill properly. Did you check the fit of this piece? I would be pleasantly surprised if FFR fixed this longstanding issue.

BTW, what is your kit's serial number? (I have #894 - just wondering if yours is newer or older than mine.)

Keith
 
#193 ·
PC1200 Battery?

I originally was planing to relocate the battery to the trunk but have changed my mind and am think I may want to use an Odyssey battery in the recommended location. Does anyone know if you can install an Odyessey PC1200 behind the rear firewall/ above drive shaft from the bottom of the car seeing as I already riveted my access panel shut...
 
#194 ·
I originally was planing to relocate the battery to the trunk but have changed my mind and am think I may want to use an Odyssey battery in the recommended location. Does anyone know if you can install an Odyessey PC1200 behind the rear firewall/ above drive shaft from the bottom of the car seeing as I already riveted my access panel shut...
You will need to look at the height, my PC925 has about an inch clearance (and the 1200 is about 1.80" higher, you may need to set it on its side) above it so I will be adding remote terminals in the trunk in case I forget to turn off something and kill it. I have a 5L Coyote engine and the 925 cranks it with very little effort. You can sort of see it in the attached pic.
 

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